Rosco - I think you missed the sarcasm. 1 - it is dangerous to try to block everything (duh) the point is that the way ckd blocks tend to be done leaves one very vulnerable to true counterattack. 2-yes, the uk ckd students have more contact than is APPROVED OF by kwang jo choi. That is a problem for the u.s. students but there is more scrutiny in the u.s. of what instructors are teaching. "Excessive force" in ckd terms is normal sparring force in tkd for color belts. Heaven help the ckd black belt who goes into tkd black belt level sparring, let alone a fight. 3- Once again, duh regarding how to win a fight. However, how to win a fight is not really taught in ckd. there is some rhetoric about how you just give one of the "powerful" ckd punches or kicks and the fight is over. No, ckd does NOT bob & weave. They do teach dodging, similar to a bob. Mostly they teach back-up-&-block i.e. run like hell.I don't think you get it that the majority of former ckders who write here are not some disgruntled green belt. Most of us were well beyond il dan or ee dan when we told ckd to take a hike. We do know more about martial arts than you seem to imply. Ckd is a cult. As long as students don't bring their cross training into the ckd dojang, then it may be overlooked (don't ask, don't tell). Instructors or school owners who do so are "disloyal" and shunned or "kicked out" (ha - that's what the egotistical upper echelon calls it when they/we quit) with periera and his minions slandering that person to anyone they can find who knows them. sick, sick sick

Thanks for the responses to my initials, (and Rutten damn you Plasma!!!)

It appears that there is a HUGE gap between the UK & US branches...interesting. If the art was supposed to be a re-writing of what was "wrong" with martial arts (translation: TKD) then surely such alterations run against the core.

It still looks and sounds pretty poor as a combat system (and admittedly I am restricted to video evidence and testimonials), but at leats there is SOME room for growth and development in a few of the schools back in blighty.

Howevr, I feel it prudent to point out that there is not ONE single concept put forward in CKD that cannot be found elsewhere. This does not invalidate the art per se, the **** put forward by the founder does. The fact that people swallow the party line is worse.

@Saman,
I wouldn't be surprised if there is a major split somewhere down the road (probably when Choi expires which is more than likely a long way off) with those that want to follow Choi's words as the gospel in one group and those who want an art without the marketing bullshit & politcal manouvering but with a more open mind on it's shortcomings.

I know of one individual in the Uk who is a disciplinarian but would definitely take Choi Kwang Do in the right direction if he was at the top. A certain Mr P. would be the death of the art if he were to take charge but i really couldn't see other senior figures letting him get away with it unchallenged.

I agree with the posts outlining the differences between US and UK CKD training. I've recently given CKD a go - in part because I'm attempting to get some fitness and flexibility back after a series of injuries (I've trained in other martial arts for the last 28-years). The claims made by Mr. P and the CKD HQ are crap - for a start CKD lacks any ground or close-quarter work.

However, the class I attend does include sparring and is run by several excellent instructors with a broad range of MA backgrounds. It's enjoyable, productive there are some excellent techniques.

That said, some of positioning is convoluted and impractical in real-world situations. I think that, as a martial art, there's a real need to focus more seperating out what's effective in real-world situations rather than techniques that more appropriate for general training purposes.

i'm not yet a black belt (red). I would use any of the striking techniques in a real world situation that i have learnt so far but there are kicks that i would never even consider using in the real world even though they are all low kicks - reverse swing kick, crescent kick, twisting kick.

The side kick i am not sure about (probably because i am crap at it though).